Switching means



Jul)vr 28, 1953 wfc. TREGONING, sR

SWITCHING MEANS Filed Feb. 23, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VEN TOR W/LL /AM C? Resa/vw A TTU/wr July 28, 1953 w. c. TRr-:GoN|NG, sR "2,647,180

SWITCHING MEANS Filed Feb. 23, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AW m Patented July 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEi assigner, by mesne assignments, to Radiart Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of OhioI Application February 23, 1949, Serial No. 77,854'

(Cl. 20D-68) 2 claims. 1

My invention relates to switching means, and more particularly to electrical switch means adapted to be used in the automotive iield for the control of headlight beams, and the principal object of myv invention is to provide new and improved switching means of this character;

The switching means of my invention provides a sturdy and eicient construction that may be easily and economically manufactured and assembled on a commercial basis. invention is herein: disclosed as embodied in a foot-dimmer switch, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to such use.

In the drawings accompanying this specication and forming apart of this application, there is shown, for purposes of illustration, an embodimentwhich my invention may assume, and in these drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a foot-dim,- mer switch embodying my invention,

Figure 2` is an enlargedv cross-sectional view corresponding generally to the line 2 2v of Figure 1,

Figure 3 isa fragmentary sectional View corresponding generally tothe line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is` a perspective View of' a bridgecarrying member,

Figure 5 is a perspective View of the member shown in Figure 4, withthe member inverted from position shown in Figure 4, and also disclosing a bridge,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective View' showing a slightly modified bridge-carrying member and means for supporting such member with respect to the housing,

Figure 7 is an exploded perspective viewv showing parts included in. the embodimentr of my invention, and

Figures 8, 9, 10, and 1l show relationship of parts during certain positions.

The embodiment herein shown to disclose the invention comprises an open-sided housing I5v (see especially Figure 7) which may be formed as a fabrication or a casting. Integral with, or secured to, the housing is a flange I6 forming` one side of the housing, and also forming means for securing the housing to a support.

The side wall of the housing (with the exception of the fla-nge Iii) is of stepped. formation, providing a shoulder I'l and a peripheral lip I8', the latter circumscribing aI larger area than the defining wall of the housing proper. Secured to the housing l5, at the ilangje HL either integral or otherwise, is a tubular member l-9, and the iiange i6 is apertured, as shown at= 20, to pro- Although my major axis of the member 3l.

vide communication between the interior ofthe housing l`5- and the interior of the tubular member t9. At either side of the aperture 2U the bottom wall 2l of the housing is formed with raised portions 22,A each terminating in an inwardly turned foot 23, The peripheral lipv I8 may be formed with a plurality of tabs 241 for a purpose later to be described.

A contact carrying plate 25, formed of suitable insulating materiali, is adapte-d to closely i-itwithin the space dei-ined by the 'lip- IB and the flange l5?, and to have its inner surface seat upon the shoulder i7. After proper assembly of all' parts, the tabs 24 are bent over theouter surface of' the contact carrying' plate 25, as seen in Figure l, to hold the parts in assembled relation.

The plate 25 carries three contacts 26, Z1 and 28, having heads 26a, 21a, 28a which extend from thev inner surface of the plate. The shanks of the contacts pass through the plate 25 and have their outer extremities headed over terminal' engaging` clips; 29 which provide for electrical connection to a suitable circuit, such as the light circuit of an automobile.

Extending upwardly from the bottom Wall ZI' of the housing E51 is a pin 30' which provides: a pivot for a bridge-carrying member 3l. The member 3l? is formed of insulating material? and has an. aperture 321 for receiving the pin 30. As an alternate constructi'om as seen in Figure 6, the bridge-carrying member may be formed with a. generally semi-circular recess 33' adapted to fit` a rounded abutment 34 formed on the housing l5; so. that the bridge-carrying member may rock about the: abutment in substantially the same manner as it does throughusel ofv the pin and' aperturel construction.

The upper surface 40 of the bridge-carrying member itl, (as viewed in Figure 5.) is formed with. an elongated recessv 4I substantially in line A bridge ft2, of: round cross-section and' formed of' suitable current' conducting material, is adapted to fit' within the recess in such manner that at least a portion of it throughout. its longitudinal length entends beyond the upper surfacer 4U oi thel member 3l.. This relationship of parts ist best, seen in Figure 2. The recessl il is formed with an enlargement l3 intermediateV its ends to facilitat'e manipulation of the bridge 4-2..

Tl e bridge i2 preferably fts the recess 4lA irr manner that it may rotate about its longitud-inal axis, whereby it mayl having rolling engagement with. the: contact heads 25a, 211i and. 28er and', thus prevent wear at any particular portion of bridge. As best seen in Figures 8 through 11, the bridge-carrying member rocks in predetermined relation with respect to the contacts 26, 21, and 28, so that a portion of the bridge 42 is always in engagement with the contact head 26a and an opposite portion of the bridge is moved into and out of engagement with respective ones of the contact heads 21a and 28a.

In some instances, it may be desirable that the bridge 42 have resilient engagement with the contact heads, and to accomplish the desired result, the recess 4| may be proportioned to receive yieldable means, such as the flat spring 44 (see Figure 6) so that such means is interposed between the bridge-carrying member 3| and the bridge 42.

Operating means are provided for effecting rocking movement of the bridge-carrying member 3|, and in the embodiment disclosed, such means comprise an operating member 41 formed of generally flat stock. The member 41 has a recess 48 in its lower margin, referring to the disposition of parts as shown in Figure 3, the recess being for clearance purposes with respect to the pin 30 and the strengthening boss surrounding such pin, or for clearing the rounded abutment 34, so that the member 41 may have maximum stroke.

The member 41 is movable in a generally rectilinearly manner through the aperture in the housing I5, and in this respect the side margins 49 thereof preferably have sliding engagement with adjoining margins of the apertures 20 for bearing purposes. The side margins 43 are provided with similar recesses 5U to receive the inturned feet 23 formed on the bottom Wall 2| of the housing l5, and thus limit movement of the member 41 in either direction.

The member 41 has an abutment 5| which may be struck-up from the body of the member by a stamping process. Spaced from the abutment, the body of the member 41 is formed with a recess 52 which provides facing projections 53, 54, each being of less width than the recess to provide respective shoulders 55, 56. The

member 41 may be secured to a cap 51 in any desired manner, for example by means of a split end forming tabs 58 which may extend through an opening in the closure wall of the cap 51, and

are bent over the exterior surface of such Wall,

thus clamping this wall against a shoulder 59 formed between the tabs and the body of the member 41.

An intermediate member 60 is provided to effeet rocking movement of the bridge-carrying member 3| through rectilinear movement of the operating member 41, and such member comprises a finger 6| formed integrally with a leg 62 of an angular portion which includes another leg 63 formed with an aperture 64 which freely passes the projection 53, so that the intermediate member 6U may rock about the projection 53, as suggested in Figures 9 and 11. Yieldable means, such as the coil spring 65, is interposed between the leg 63 and the shoulder 56, the projections 53 and 54 cooperating to hold the spring in position. As best seen in Figure 3, the spring 55 urges the relatively flat leg 63 to seat on the shoulder 55 in such manner that the finger 6| is held substantially in alignment with the line of movement of the rectilinear movement.

The finger 6| is cooperable with a cam surface 68 formed in a recess on the bridge-carrying member 3|. Referring particularly to Figures 4 and 8 through 11, the cam surface 68 is substantially symmetrically arranged about the major axis of the bridge-carrying member 3|, and comprises a crest 69 on the major axis and a pair of troughs 10, one on each side of this axis. One or the other of the troughs 1|) is adapted to be adjacent to the lower end of the finger 6| when the operating member 41 is in its outermost position.

The lbridge-carrying member 3|, on the same side as the cam surface 68, is also formed with a recess 1| providing branches 12, one or the other of which is adapted to be generally in alignment with the line of movement of the operating member and to receive the abutment 5| to lock the bridge-carrying member against movement. The branches 12 are joined by a relatively wide recess portion 13 into which the abutment is moved when the bridge-carrying member is to be moved from one position to another.

In assembling the switch parts, the cap 51 is secured to operating member 41. The intermediate member 60 may then be assembled with the projection 53, and the spring positioned about the projections 53 and 54 and interposed between the leg 63 of the intermediate member 60 and the shoulder 56 of the operating member 41, and the entire assembly up to this point may be assembled with the housing |5 by moving the operating member 41, and coil spring 14 disposed thereabout., through the tubular portion I9.

The end of the operating member will project through the aperture 20 and the coil spring 14 will bear against the adjacent surface of the iiange I6. Compression of the spring 14 will permit further inserting movement of the operating member, and this member may be tilted slightly so that its inner end raises above the inturned feet 23, so that such inner end may be moved beyond the feet. The member 41 may then be moved from tilted position to a position substantially flat with respect to the bottom wall 2| of the housing l5, so that the feet 23 hook behind marginal edges of the recesses 50 and hold the operating member in assembled position. It will be clear that this assembly may be made in a very short time, without the requirement of special tools or independent fastening means, and thus reduces assembly cost.

The bridge-carrying member 3|, with bridge 42 in seated relation, may next be assembled, by disposing the member 3| about the pin 3U (or the rounded abutment 34) with the bridge 42 disposed toward the open side of the housing. The plate may next be assembled, by disposing it in seating relation on 'the shoulder |1 within the lip I8, making sure that the contacts 21 and 28 are positioned adjacent to the flange |6. The tabs 24 may then be bent over the outer surface of the plate 25 to complete the assembly.

In operation, the coil spring 14 normally urges the operating member 41 to outermost position, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The finger 6| is held to substantial alignment with the line of movement of the operating member 48, by means of the coil spring 65, and the finger 6| is positioned in one or the other of the troughs 10, preferably just short of engagement with the adjacent surface of the cam. The troughs 10, as best seen in Figures 8 through 1l, form pockets disposed off-center with respect to the line of movement of the operating member 41, so that as a pushing pressure is applied-to the cap 51, the operating member will move inward, causing the end of the finger to seat in the off-center pocket. vFurther inward movement of the operating member 41 causes the nger to move upwardly (with respect to the disposition of parts in Figures 8 through 11) along the projection 53 to compress the spring 65 and thus store energy. At the same time, the off-center relation of the pockets formed by the troughs 1U tends to urge the nger from in-line to out-oi-line relation, and when the stored energy is suicient to overcome the inertia of the bridge-carrying member 3| and the friction caused by interengagement of the bridge 42 with the contacts, and when the operating member 41 has been moved sunciently inward so that the abutment 5l is moved out of the respective branch 12 and into the wide recess portion 13, the bridgecarrying member will be snapped from one position to the other position.

When pushing pressure is released from the cap 51, the spring 14 urges the operating member 41 to its outermost position, and the nger 6I will drag over the crest 69 and be disposed in the other trough 12 in position for further operation. At the same time, the abutment will ride up in the respective branch 12 and hold the bridge-carrying member 3l against movement.

Thus, it will be seen that the bridge 42 may be moved to bridge either contacts 26 and 21, or 26 and 28, and because of the rolling action of the bridge, no undue wear will result even after a multitude of operations.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have accomplished at least the principal object of my invention, and it also will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described, hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. An electrical switch, comprising: a base; at least two contacts carried by said base and being insulated from each other; a bridge carrying member having an elongated recess; an elongated conductive member round in cross-section and rotatably seated in said recess; said bridgecarrying member being rockable about a center so that said conductive member is always in engagement with one of said contacts and may be moved into and out of engagement with the other contact.

2. In an electrical switch, a base, at least two contacts carried by said base and insulated from each other, a generally flat bridge-carrying member shiftable flat-wise relative to said base, a bridge, round in cross-section, and extending from a flat surface of said member, said bridge being mounted for rotation about its axis, said bridge-carrying member being held in spaced rclation with respect to said base so that shifting of said member causes said bridge to trave-rse said contacts with a rolling action, said bridge being of a length as compared to the spacing of said contacts so that it is in substantially constant engagement with one of said contacts and movable into and out of engagement with the other of said contacts.

WILLIAM C. y:UREGrlllilNG, SR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,726,697 I-Iorn Sept. 3, 1929 1,834,896 Bruno Dec. 1, 1931 1,956,422 Hammerly Apr. 24, 1934 2,090,544 Michel Aug. 17, 1937 2,131,590 Hathorn Sept. 27, 1938 2,135,809 Fruth Nov. 8, 1938 2,179,252 Douglas Nov. 7, 1939 2,235,382 Miller Mar. 18, 1941 Y2,285,916 Eisner June 9, 1942 2,321,212 Johnson June 6, 1943 2,357,183 Frank Aug. 29, 1944 2,416,626 Jeffrey Feb. 25, 1947 2,444,149 Aldrige June 29, 1948 2,468,551 Goff Apr. 26, 1949 

